Norman reflects back on 49ers’ first football season

Thursday

Still the soft-spoken type, Tank Norman’s voice grew louder when talking about his next football season at Charlotte.

Still the soft-spoken type, Tank Norman’s voice grew louder when talking about his next football season at Charlotte.

The former Richlands High School standout is already looking forward to the 2014 season after starting all 11 games at cornerback during the 49ers’ inaugural season.

“Last offseason we didn’t know what we were working for, but this offseason we know and we know how hard we have to work,” Norman said in a telephone interview. “We have very high expectations for this year. Everybody is maturing and we want to do something special.”

The 2013 season certainly was special for Norman and his Charlotte teammates as the 49ers played their first football season. Charlotte, coached by Brad Lambert, finished 5-6, opening the season with a 52-7 home win over Campbell on Aug. 31 before defeating Chowan 47-7 at home the following week.

The 49ers later beat Presbyterian 45-21 and Gardner-Webb 53-51. Charlotte closed the regular season on Nov. 23 with a 61-17 victory at Morehead State.

It was a successful first season for a program that began practice with its first recruiting class in 2012 that included Norman and former Northside High running back DonJore Gainey, who finished with three rushes for 55 yards, including a 49-yard run.

And the wait was worth it, said Norman, who will enter next season as a red-shirt sophomore.

“It was fun. It was fast. It was a learning experience, and it was pretty much everything I thought it would be,” Norman said. “From playing that first game and feeling the rush and nervousness with it, to playing that last game and still having the motivation, it was nice.

“Just to see how big of an impact we were having on the city of Charlotte, it was well worth it and I’m glad I decided to come here. That’s what I’m always going to remember: being on the first team and making history.”

Looking back, 20-year-old Norman is generally pleased with the season, both from a team aspect and on an individual level.

Team-wise, he is proud the 49ers were competitive, although he said he and his teammates felt they could have won more games. Charlotte played four teams ranked in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision rankings.

“It went beyond a lot of people’s expectations, people outside of the team, but within the team we were a little disappointed because we knew there were some games we lost just because we were young in some places,” Norman said. “We took those games as a learning experience.

“It took a while to get used to settling into games. I know when I played in the first game it was the first game I played in over a year and so much adrenaline was running throughout my body. After the first four games, things really started to settle down and I enjoyed the game more.”

Apparently opposing wide receivers didn’t have as much fun going against the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Norman. He only had one interception – against Presbyterian – and finished with one defended pass and 35 tackles, but there’s a reason for Norman’s low numbers: opponents generally didn’t throw in his direction.

“That was real cool,” he said. “It was kind of unreal. I couldn’t believe it had happened.”

And although he did his job as a shutdown cornerback, from a competitive standpoint Norman wishes quarterbacks tested him more.

“I was playing one-on-one coverage a lot,” he said. “It (his play) definitely makes me feel good and it gives me hope, but I know I can be better.”

That’s the next step for Norman.

Now that he can look at game film for the first time, he has a chance to better find his strengths and weaknesses.

Norman, who made a name for himself at Richlands as an option quarterback, said he is still learning how to be a cornerback and the basics that go with playing in the secondary.

“The hardest adjustment I would say is the fundamentals because in high school my focus was more on quarterback, but now I have to work on things like footwork and knowing what the other teams like to do,” Norman said. “Individually, I felt I was a little slower just because it was my first year focusing on just defense and so I want to work on getting faster and putting on a little more weight.”

But there are other things Norman also wants to improve on.

“In the offseason, I’m going to work on my technique. I want to work on training my eyes better and reading the run or the pass straight off the line,” he said. “I also want to work on studying more film and just preparing.”

Norman has plenty of time to work on things, given he has three more years of eligibility.

But his focus now is on helping the 49ers take another step forward next season in their second and final year of being an independent FCS team before Charlotte joins Conference USA in 2015 as a Football Bowl Subdivision program.

“We, of course, want to have a winning record,” Norman said. “We want to correct our mistakes we made this past year, and we want to play smarter. I’m looking forward to a good year this year. I have high expectations for myself and for my team. That makes us ready to work in the offseason.”

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